a
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Edwards, California, wrote to enquire whether an or a is to be used in a parenthetical construction like "... an (unspecified) number of years ago."
View all »Definitions (49)
American Heritage Dictionary (22)
- noun The first letter of the modern English alphabet.
- noun Any of the speech sounds represented by the letter a.
- noun The first in a series.
Century Dictionary (14)
GNU Webster's 1913 (6)
WordNet (7)
Elsewhere on the web
View all » Examples
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Edwards, California, wrote to enquire whether an or a is to be used in a parenthetical construction like "... an (unspecified) number of years ago."
— VERBATIM: The Language Quarterly Vol III No 3 -
I started out with the common misconception that the Boston a is always broad.
— VERBATIM: The Language Quarterly Vol 2 No 1 -
There was a physical pain in Daria's chest -- a twisting, wrenching feeling.
— Dolls - It is just as when you and I, when we see something nice in a shop, call it a dear duck of a thing, and tell somebody to go and buy it, let the price be ever so extravagant. — Phineas Finn
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As you recall, in Somalia, which is -- a lot of people are calling this a parallel -- calling a parallel to this operation, in Somalia we shifted our mission from assisting humanitarian assistance to a kind of a law enforcement thing, chasing down Aidid.
— CNN Transcript Jul 26, 2003
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A has been looked up 1,533 times, favorited 0 times, listed 45 times, commented on once, and is not a valid Scrabble word.
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View all »Etymologies (11)
American Heritage Dictionary (3)
- Middle English, variant of an, an; see an1.
- Middle English, from Old English an, in; see on.
- Middle English, alteration of haven, to have; see have.
Century Dictionary (5)
GNU Webster's 1913 (3)
WordNet
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Pronunciations
ahd pronounces "a"
by
American Heritage Dictionary
ahd pronounces "a"
by
American Heritage Dictionary
kirby1024 pronounces "a"
by
kirby1024